As a lifelong hunter, naturalist, and former game and fish agency bureaucrat, I need to correct circulating mythology about killing cougars and bobcats.
Unlike traditional game, predators can’t compensate for mortality with fecundity. They self-regulate. They don’t require management, which in most of the West means killing. Bobcat trapping is regulated not by science but by fur prices. There’s no evidence that killing cougars and bobcats creates more game or decreases depredations of pets and livestock.
And there’s copious evidence that trophy hunting, in which large cats are selected, skews age structure so that more young, inexperienced animals disperse to human settlements, causing increased depredations.
Veteran cougar researcher Dr. Mark Elbroch of the group Panthera offers this: “Cougars don’t need to be killed. No problem is solved by killing them. And there are hardly any bobcat regulations in any state. No bag limits, no data on how many are out there.”
From Dr. Rick Hopkins who has studied cougars since 1979: “For years agencies have made such claims [that killing predators creates more game], but when pushed to provide evidence, they can’t.”
Cougars cornered by hounds are executed at point-blank range, often after the sedentary hunter has been radioed in by the outfitter. And many outfitters guarantee kills. Trophy hunting and trapping of predators is not management, nor is it fair chase.
I urge all Coloradans who cherish native wildlife, including fair-chase hunters, to vote YES on Proposition 91, the ‘Cats Aren’t Trophies’ ballot measure which will protect wild felines.
Ted Williams
Grafton, MA